Football Season Guide

Bologna

In


Emanuel Vignato (att)(Chievo Verona, end of loan); Arturo Calabresi (def)(Amiens SC, end of loan); Godfred Donsah (mid)(Cercle Brugge, end of loan); Nehuén Paz (def)(Lecce, end of loan); Kingsley Michael (mid)(Cremonese, end of loan); Diego Falcinelli (att)(Perugia, end of loan)

Out


Ladislav Krejci (sp)(att)(Sparta Praha)

When he bought Bologna, back in 2014, President Joey Saputo hoped to bring the club among the elite of the Italian football. The past 5 seasons since their return to the top flight, though, have seen his dreams broken. Last campaign, in particular, was rather disappointing as until early February they seemed capable of fighting for the European spots but then they won only 3 out of the final 15, thus seeing the end of their ambitions. Coach Mihajlovic, whose past season was troubled by leukemia but anyway managed to give his side an aggressive and pleasant play, was given a vote of confidence and will once again be asked to lead Bologna to better shores. In order to do so, the management are trying to provide him with a younger squad compared to the one he had at his disposal in the previous season. At the moment, they have not finalized many deals, though. In terms of departures, they only saw Krejci, a winger turned to left-back, returning to his home country and he will not be missed, having spent most of 2020 on the sidelines. So far, a bunch of players that had been loaned out are back and it has to be seen how many of them are really there for staying. Among them, the most interesting return is represented by wonderkid Vignato, a 20-year-old winger/attacking midfielder, who is very well thought of. Right-back Calabresi, after his experience at Amiens SC, could also be considered for a stay as back-up especially if promising Tomiyasu, also a right-back, will make his shift to centre-back. Right-back De Silvestri is expected to sign anytime soon, while Bologna are also on the hunt for one more centre-back and a forward, also considering that Danilo and Palacio are not getting any younger. The defence is the department that needs being adjusted the most, considering that they picked up just 2 clean sheets all last season.

Target


Bologna are aiming at a quantum leap but a lot will depend on the remainder of their transfer campaign. And young players like Orsolini, Skov Olsen and Dominguez will have to find that consistency they totally lacked last season.